Sunday, August 7, 2011

Liberals are not killing this country. Taxes are not evil. Stop listening to the propaganda of corporate-controlled Fox News and drinking the extreme right's Kool-Aid. If you recall, Bush came into the White House with a Democratic President-created budget SURPLUS, and rapidly changed that into a deficit. FACT!

Tax = revenue. When you don't tax, you have no revenue with which to run the infrastructure of this country. As I've posted here and, especially on Facebook, multiple times with charts and graphs and actual numbers to defend my case - the true facts (not buzz words, propaganda, lies, and rhetoric), the wealthiest Americans and corporate persons pay little to no taxes and less proportional Social Security tax compared to their income than do middle class Americans. With all the tax cuts, tax breaks, loopholes, and corporate welfare for corporations making record-breaking profits every quarter, that's one heck of a lot of revenue missing from our "baseline budget." Add to that the trillions of dollars we've spent on 3 wars, thanks for the first 2 to Bush and the third to Obama, we are STILL living in a war economy. When that happens, we usually increase taxes to pay for our war spending. What did Bush do? He cut taxes!

Baseline budgeting - get out of the wars, increase taxes (progressive, not regressive as it is now) on ALL Americans and corporations (which for the wealthiest Americans after WWII was a 90% tax rate, not the current 0-15% most actually end up paying these days) to pay for the wars, then reduce the taxes once you've paid off the war debt.

Yes, it is about budgeting. You want war? You need to raise taxes to pay for it. You want a government infrastructure so your country doesn't collapse? You make sure that ALL Americans are paying their fair share in taxes, because we all benefit. Want a viable, thriving middle class and economy? Create jobs in the USA and stop outsourcing where you can get away with paying slave wages and little to no benefits in order to increase your profits and CEO wages to ridiculously high amounts - morality and ethics be darned.

If the GOP extreme right were truly interested in helping America and Americans, they wouldn't have simultaneously introduced bills in multiple state legislatures to repeal minimum wage and child labor laws, and destroy labor unions and collective bargaining that protect the average worker from economic and personal abuse at the hands of their corporate masters. Average Americans are losing jobs, are underemployed, have their salaries frozen or cut, while the Lords of Industry have increased the income disparity (Gini coefficient) in this country to be close to that of Egypt. The average CEO earned 24x the average worker's pay in 1965. By 1979, they earned 35x more, in 1989 it was 71x more, in 1999 it was 300x more, in 2005 it was 262x more. Those same CEO's pay lower income tax rates than the average worker, and pay no Social Security tax on income over $106,800.

The people in power purposefully repealed the Glass-Steagall Act with the prior knowledge that deregulation would open the door for them to rape the economy through rampant speculation and mortgage-backed securities at the risk of another depression or recession. They did the dirty deed, and they got exactly what they wanted. It was the largest transfer of financial (including the speculative dollars, securities and bailouts) and property wealth (foreclosures) in history, and the transfer of wealth is still ongoing. The S&L debacle was their dry run.

So, don't tell me the Liberals are killing this country. We live in a corporate-controlled America. If you're an average American, you live like a vassal or serf under the watchful eyes of not-so-benevolent masters. To me, that is taxation without representation!

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting! I appreciate the time you're taking to look around and read, and truly welcome all respectful comments.

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person: the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works."

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All images and text are All Rights Reserved and the copyrighted, artistic works of Patrice Palmer and Palmer's Purview. Any use of these pictures or text without the express permission of Patrice Palmer or Palmer's Purview is forbidden. This blog is protected by COPYSCAPE.

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Dreams...

to get my books published (one, a children's book, the other, a book of poetry and essays)

to travel, shoot (both photos and videos) and write.

to have my photographs and artwork in the permanent collections of some museums, and published in National Geographic.

to record an album and make a movie.

most importantly, to help people find safety, comfort and peace in this world.

Every Human Has Rights

Our Place on this Earth

"Humans, in all our arrogance and pride, consider the earth, with its vast lands, oceans and living beings, to be under our dominion. Under this circumstance the earth becomes, at best, a well-treated hostage; at worst, a place to tyranically plunder and destroy. We are only one small part of the incredibly rich and diverse planet we call home, and should therefore responsibly share, not rule over, that which gives us and all other living beings life." - Patrice Palmer

One in Three Women and Girls

Are you, or do you know, the 1 in 3?

That's the ratio of women and girls who will be raped or experience violence or sexual abuse during their lifetime. Women's rights are also human rights. I'm calling on everyone to please go to the UN sitehttp://saynotoviolence.org/and add your voice to the global action to Stop Violence Against Women.

The United Nations website on Violence Against Women (VAW), under the auspices of UNIFEM has more information:

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always." - Mahatma Gandhi

Please Help a Writer and Photographer Follow Her Dreams

My Beautiful Pets

"The crazy part of my mind is like a mischievous pet I have to keep watch over, or it might behave badly while I'm not paying attention."— Margaret Sartor (Miss American Pie: A Diary of Love, Secrets and Growing Up in the 1970s)

Quotes

"Life can be difficult, yet when you meet resistance with resilience, you turn challenge into opportunity." - Patrice Palmer

"The view in the rear-view mirror can cause a driver to get in a wreck. Keep your eyes on the road ahead to see the curves and forks that challenge your drive through life. Your timing on the brakes and accelerator determines your finesse in negotiating those challenges, and is improved by your knowledge, experience, confidence, and integrity. The challenges encourage growth, creation, and finesse in driving your life." – Patrice Palmer

"Words witness, honor, and preserve the lives of those who have touched our lives in some way. They also have the immense power to bind us together, creating community and a positive future where none had existed before." – Patrice Palmer

"If you get hit by life or walk into a wall, be flexible, embrace the change, and keep hugging yourself as you roll downhill. When you get to the bottom, you'll be able to get up and walk back to the top." - Patrice Palmer